You make a really good point, and I agree with your assessments of all those singers. There was an approachability that I don't think is really there so much now, despite how much more access we now have to celebrities. Maybe the pressure to look a certain way has increased?

In that case, the junior plus pants and jeans might also work well for you, being a bit narrower in the legs. I've rarely found pants or jeans that fit both, either, so I've generally had to go with the hips and live with them being loose everywhere else :/ Since it sounds like you may be similarly built to me,…

I got them from Deb. They don't have the same style right now, but they may end up with something similar now that school is starting soon, since they were labeled "uniform pants" and meant to work with school uniforms that require plain black pants. They are the store's own label, Reign, so I imagine other styles…

I do, too, and I sometimes feel bad when my friends who are larger ask where I got something. Uh...well, I picked it up from Deb, but they stop at 24, sorry to get your hopes up :(

Thanks! The really amazing part is, I ordered them online, so it was a complete guessing-game. They're a nice boot-cut five-pocket style, somewhere between dressy and casual (so they're work appropriate for a corporate casual environment but I'm not overdressed if I just wear them to hang out with friends). Later…

Not bad. Not much going on, really, which is sometimes a good thing.

Whoa. I guess so! Must have been later in her career, after she was of legal age.

I've often had that same problem when in the size range you're in, though the misses stuff tended to fit a bit better, especially with pants and skirts (the main issue I would have is that the tops were too short, mainly because of my boobs). Once I crossed over to exclusively plus (size 22) it got even worse,…

I hear ya'. I was lucky enough to still be in "regular" sizes, but at a 14/16 or so I still ended up having to go to a TON of stores to find anything for a formal dance. I did find some I liked all right, though they wouldn't have been my first choice, in any case. And I distinctly remember searching for a…

Before Charming Shoppes closed down Fashion Bug, they had branched out into plus size maternity. I wish they'd thought to open a shop just for that. It's really an untapped market.

Right? Jeez.

I don't know if it helps, but floral print is big in smaller sizes right now, too. Everything's coming up late '80s/early '90s. Ugh.

I love this comment, too. It cannot be overstated how often plus size women have to make the choice between searching far and wide for something we actually like or settling for what's available when we need something. And, as hard as it is to build a wardrobe up to a size 24, it gets even *more* difficult after…

God, yes. I agree with just about everything you said, here—especially the part about how hard it is to find basics! I spent literally my ENTIRE ADULT LIFE (I'm thirty-five) looking for black pants that actually fit me properly. I finally found them last summer, and it was like I heard a fucking choir of angels…

Exactly! I used to like Lane Bryant a lot, but once they were bought by Charming Shoppes, I think they went downhill both with looks and quality. I'm pretty lukewarm about nearly all their offerings, so I don't feel any need to spend as much for them as they want. I'd rather take my money somewhere else and get one…

I agree. That's my price point, right now, so I would like to see more options there.

I think part of the problem with this, though, is that plus size women have already been relegated—for decades!—to buying things we don't really like and don't really want and don't really fit correctly because we need clothes and that's what's out there. And we know we'd better snap it up while we can, because even…

I just shared your site with a plus-size Facebook group I'm in. There's definitely a shortage of options past 3X, even with companies who claim to cater to "every size", so it's really refreshing to see designers venturing out there :)

I was going to say something about this, as well. There's a HUGE lack of good low- and moderately-priced plus size stuff, and a big gap between girlish and matronly. Personally, I like a lot of Torrid's stuff (though if you think they're fake punk now, you should have seen when they first opened) and I like to stay…

Her hair looks fabulous there.

I think a lot of salespeople DO get that (coming from another former/sometimes salesperson, here), but that they DON'T always get it at the corporate level. Or even at store-management level, sometimes. It's always been a struggle for me, dealing with how much the expectations my bosses had for how to interact with…